Not a Stitch
by Googie
Summary: This is just a little idea I got for a somewhat fluffy one-shot set at the end of 4x05.  Castle takes something that Kate says and tries to attach a little bit of drama to it while messing with her a bit.  Then she messes back.  All fun.


_**So...it appears that I'm queen of the pre-episode one-shots this weekend. This came to me in the shower this morning, and I thought it might be fun to write it out and post it before 4x05 airs. **_

_**This deals specifically with one of one of the sneak peeks that was released for 4x05, specifically #3 (the one that starts with Castle viewing the 'art'). There is some spoiler verbiage in the very beginning, so if you live spoiler-free, you might not want to read any farther.**_

_**Disclaimer: the usual; I don't own anyone.**_

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><p><em>"The closest I ever came to taking an art class was posing for one. As a model."<em>

_"Wait. Posing in...?"_

_"Not a stitch."_

_And as she went to look at the body, Castle's mouth went dry and he briefly felt faint as the the images of Kate Beckett posing, naked, on a table covered in red velvet, in front of a room full of art students swirled through his overactive imagination._

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

It was late at night, and most everyone had gone home already. She was going to head out soon, but she decided she wanted to take care of the murder board first. It was good, mindless, busy work; a way to let her brain wind down. The case was put to bed, and luckily, Kate Beckett thought, it appeared that was _all_ that had been put to bed in the last few days. And if she never again had the pleasure of running into Ms. Serena Kaye again, it would be too soon.

As she erased some of the writing on the murder board, she heard a voice behind her. "So..." the voice uttered, drawing the word out, but only saying that one word.

She turned around briefly and looked into piercing blue eyes. "Definitely not up to your usual eloquence, Castle," she chided with a slight smile. "So go ahead, Castle, spill it. If you have something to say, just say it."

"This case kind of got to me, and I'm thinking that my life needs to go in a new direction."

Well, that was certainly cutting to the chase and laying it all out there. Somehow, his words made her heart skip a little beat and her hand froze at the board. There were some interesting moments during this case, with the word 'interesting' being a very generously positive term. And there were some of her own realizations that she came to, and she was still trying to sort through those. So his words that had an ominous overtone to them didn't set well with her. And they made her stop what she was doing with the murder board and turn around to face him. "Really..." she prompted simply.

"Yeah. Some parts of my life just aren't enough anymore."

Her words that she'd spoken to him on the swings at the playground came back to haunt her, when she said that she'd liked Josh, but it wasn't enough. Of course, then with her 'enough', she was talking about him, not Josh...so did that mean that he was now talking about...someone else? She couldn't help but draw the comparisons between that and what he was saying now, and she felt like her heart was skipping a beat again. In a not-very-good way.

"I...uh... Well, Castle." She really didn't know what to say, because he almost sounded like he was...no, he couldn't be. But he sounded like he was going to tell her he wasn't going to shadow her anymore. He was so serious. And there was..._that woman_. She wasn't around anymore, and Kate knew that, but everything with her was still fresh; it was still in the back of her mind. And now Castle was saying that his life needed to go in a new direction, and that parts of his life weren't 'enough' anymore.

What new direction?

And what parts weren't 'enough'?

"I'm surprised, Kate. You don't have anything else to say?" he asked her, leaning backwards onto her desk and clasping his hands in front of him in a casual gesture. His eyes didn't really give anything away, aside from being intense in how they looked at her.

"Well, it's late, you know?" She still didn't know how to respond. "So, Castle, if you're having some sort of mid-life crisis, maybe the best thing for you to do would be to sleep on it. Then, uh, we can talk about it when we're both a little more...fresh."

"Oh, I think I'm plenty 'fresh' right now, Detective," he said in a lazy voice with a slight grin and a raise of his eyebrow. "And I really need to talk to you about it. There's just something I need to tell you."

Now she was getting nervous. She was trying to deal with things more directly, she really was, but she didn't like where this was going. She didn't like the serious tone of his voice, and she didn't like the few things that he'd already said. So the only thing she could think of doing was avoiding...running. Yeah.

But still, she couldn't make herself break his gaze, not when he looked at her like he was looking at her now. So even though the thing she wanted to do most in the world right now was run, she managed to find her voice as she said, "Okay, Castle. What is it?" And she steeled herself for what she was about to hear.

"Well, like I said, lately I've been getting the feeling that I just need more in my life. I've found that through this case, a new world has opened up for me. I see so much potential! And I want to grab it and take everything it has to offer."

No, this wasn't sounding good. She'd started to get a little knot in her stomach, and she found that it was growing now the more she listened to him. Needing to do something, she walked around him over to her desk and sat down in her chair. Leaning back, she found some bit of strength within her and decided to be direct and not dodge the issue. Just rip off the bandage, so to speak. "So what does that mean, Castle? Are you moving on? Should I retire your chair because you won't be needing it anymore?" There. It was out there. And she waited for his answer and found that she was holding her breath.

"Moving on, Detective? No." She let out her breath and hoped that he didn't hear the whoosh of air that escaped from her lungs. "I'm just broadening my horizons."

She shook her head at him. "Castle, you're being even more confusing than normal. It's late, and I'd like to go home, so can you please just spell out these horizons that you're broadening so I can get out of here and you can go somewhere and start broadening them?"

"Art," he said simply.

"Art?" she asked incredulously. Talking about art made her think of _that woman_, and she certainly didn't want to think of _that woman_ anytime soon.

"Yes, art," he clarified. "I'm finding that although I can lose myself in my writing, it's not enough. I need more...a different kind of creative outlet. Like I said, broadening my horizons," he told her evenly.

"So you want to do...what, exactly, to broaden these horizons?" she asked.

"I want to take my creativity in a new direction. I think it has the potential to be a very...shall we say, titillating experience."

"Really, Castle? Titillating, huh?" Where the hell was he going with this? And why, oh why, was he telling her? Why would he think she would ever want to know about anything about some titillating artsy experience, especially after the case with _that woman_?

"Yes. Most definitely, Detective." He narrowed his eyes and nodded at her, the ultra serious look on his face giving way to a very slight, self-satisfied smirk that was a Castle trademark.

She huffed out a breath before asking him impatiently, "Castle, are you going to talk in circles all night, or are you going to tell me what you so obviously want to tell me already?"

"Patience, my dear Detective, patience. I'm just trying to thank you, because it was ultimately you who provided me the impetus to go off in this new direction."

"Me?" she couldn't believe she was sitting here, late into the evening, having a conversation with him about...she didn't even really know what they were talking about. But enough was enough. "Come on, Castle, I just want to go grab a bite to eat and go home. Can you please get on with telling me whatever it is you need to tell me, so I can leave?"

"Fine, Detective." He cleared his throat and then leaned toward her with an earnest look on his face. "Painting, Kate. I want to learn how to paint."

It was the second time for her to stare at him like he'd grown horns. "You want to paint? Oh, brother. Then by all means, go paint, Castle! I fail to see how it has anything to do with me. Can I go now?"

He ignored her last question, and addressed the rest of what she said. "It has everything to do with you. You see, I'll need inspiration...I'll need a model." His eyes started twinkling and he leaned even closer to her as he spoke to her in a low, seductive voice. "And I understand, Detective, that you have experience. As a model. A very _alluring_ model, I'm sure." And then he stared at her, and as he stared at her, he waggled his eyebrows slowly, leaving no doubt in her mind that it was up to her to fill in any remaining blanks.

And she did. It came to her right away, the offhand words from a few days earlier, designed to mess with the mind of one Richard Castle and keep him on his toes. Because it was always so fun to mess with his mind.

_'Not a stitch.'_

Her mouth dropped open and her eyes widened. "You..." He was implying that he wanted her to mod...no. No, he wasn't. That sneak! _He_ was messing with _her_ now! "Castle!" she slammed her hands down on her desk, causing him to jump. Then she leaned forward toward him and poked his chest with her finger. "Mr. Castle, I hope you know that you will live to regret that little stunt."

"And you say _I'm_ an easy mark? But you deserved it, Detective. Every wonderful minute of it, every look on that expressive face of yours. 'Not a stitch.'" He shook his head. "Katherine Beckett, what would your father say about you teasing me like that?"

She leaned her chin down on her hand and said sweetly, "Oh, I don't know, Rick. He'd probably say the same thing that you'd say if you found out that _your_ daughter posed nude for an art class."

Now it was his turn for his jaw to drop open and his eyes to grow big. "My daughter? Alexis? Pose...n...n..." he stuttered.

"She's going to college you know," she told him, and once again, the jaw dropped. Even more. And before he could recover from that, she said," Touché, Castle." Within a couple of beats, she saw the glare on his face directed at her as he realized that now, _she_ had played _him_. Then she asked him, "Now that you're finished with your fun, can I leave now?" She stood and picked up her coat, taking for granted that his answer would be in the affirmative.

He stood up side of her and offered his arm to her. "Remy's?" At the questioning lift of her eyebrow, he added, "It's the least I could do after the case, and you know...this. And you owe me the company after trying to imply just now that my sweet, innocent daughter..." he trailed off, not even able to complete the thought.

She looked at his outstretched arm, and then back to him. "Oh, why not?" She wound her arm through his and they started walking.

As they made their way to the elevator, he looked at her sideways and asked, "So you really weren't wearing anything when you posed for that class?"

"Clothes, no," she said absently. "But there were a few very strategically placed feathers..."

And it was all she could do to stifle the smile as she heard the strong huff of a rapid exhalation coming from him as he shook his head quickly from side to side, when she knew his mind was busy conjuring up the mental image that her words evoked. But she couldn't resist one more comment.

"Red feathers, Castle."

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><p><em><strong>When I thought of this in the shower, I was imagining something obscenely short. But alas, I can't write anything short, so here it is. And I had so much luck with a certain red item in 'The Plan' that I decided to make the feathers red in this fic too.<strong>_

_**And if anyone missed my other one-shot this weekend and you need a little more to read, go check it out. It's called 'Hidden Meanings'.**_

_**I hope you enjoyed it, and as always, I would very much appreciate hearing what you think.**_

_**Thanks for reading!**_


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